


The Morning After

by Telaryn



Series: The Hero and The Bad Boy [4]
Category: Leverage, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Established Relationship, Friendship, M/M, Morning After
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2013-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-23 18:15:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/625181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Telaryn/pseuds/Telaryn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After sleeping with Quinn, Clint turns to the only person he trusts to discuss his doubts about what he's done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Morning After

He’s not surprised when she joins him on the roof the next morning – in fact, Clint is almost embarrassed to admit that he’s started to count on her showing up exactly where and when he needs her. “So,” Nat says, pulling herself up to sit on the parapet beside him.

The sun is just starting to bloom on the horizon. “So,” he answers, not trusting himself to look at her. The nightmares were the worst he can remember since the early days following his rescue in the desert, and they’ve left him feeling disconnected from the world around him. He presses his shoulder against hers, drawings strength from her presence.

 _I shouldn’t have done it._ His feet swing back and forth like a child’s, heels kicking lightly against the concrete block. “I knew it was fucked up.” The words aren’t the first he wanted to say, but they’re the only ones that can fight through the roil of his tangled emotions. “I’ve known it was fucked up for weeks.”

“Did he stay the night?”

It’s the right question, but Clint still feels the heat rising on his skin. “No,” he admits, ducking his head. After a moment he looks up, meeting her eyes. “I shouldn’t have done it, Nat. I shouldn’t have done it.”

“You two have been dancing around sleeping together for weeks now. Eliot started taking bets after the first three days.” She shrugs, and his heart twists in his chest as he realizes she genuinely doesn’t understand. “Is it the mercenary thing?”

He laughs bitterly. “That’s part of it, yes.” He scrubs a hand across his face, looking up at the sun. “Stark said I’d never be free of the nightmares. I was so hoping he was wrong.”

Nat is quiet, and once again Clint is grateful. Jumping down from his perch, he begins to pace – the energy rising in him is too high to fight now, too much to control. “He would have turned me over to Cross if Tony and Bruce hadn’t gotten to me in time, yes?”

Her expression gives nothing of her own feelings away, but she doesn’t flinch away from the question either. “That was the contract he took. You might have been able to convince him to kill you, but either way he was going to do everything in his power to deliver you as promised.”

Clint listens to her, realizing that his chest is tight, and his hands are shaking. “What do I even do with that?” he asks, half-begging Natasha to give him some way to reconcile what’s happening with what has gone before. “I slept with a man who six months ago was preparing to hand me over to be butchered.” He swallows, feeling again like he’s coming apart. “Who does that?”

She’s quiet for long enough that he wonders if she intends to say anything at all. Finally Natasha slips off their perch and moves within his reach. “A man who understands that good and evil, black and white, are a child’s fantasy.” The weight of their history is in her eyes as she reaches up and caresses his cheek. “Do you really think the man you’ve been drinking with, the man you took to your bed last night would do that to you now?”

He covers her hand with his, clings to it like it’s his only lifeline to sanity. “I don’t, but Nat – Quinn came closer to finishing me than anyone has in a very long time. What if I’m wrong?”


End file.
